CBN disburses N60bn from N220bn MSME fund

The Central Bank of Nigeria said on Tuesday that it had disbursed the sum of N60bn from the N220bn Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund.

Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Development Finance, Mr Paul Eluhaiwe, gave the figure during the commencement of the disbursement of the fund to the physically challenged

The N220bn MSME fund, which was inaugurated in August, 2014, had 60 per cent earmarked for providing financial services to women in order to address their peculiar financial exclusion circumstances.

Based on the guidelines of the fund, each state of the federation would be able to access N2bn, which would be administered to beneficiaries at an interest rate of nine per cent.

Also, two per cent of the fund, representing about N4.4bn, would be made available for economically active physically challenged entrepreneurs.

Addressing journalists shortly after the commencement, Eluhaiwe said contrary to claims in some quarters that the fund was not being disbursed, the apex bank had been making the funds available to entrepreneurs that had met the laid down criteria.

He said while the criteria might be stringent, the CBN was just being careful in order to ensure that those who actually got the fund had the ability to repay.

He said, “There are conditions for Micro Finance Bank to meet before they can assess the fund, and entrepreneurs also have to meet the condition before the fund can be disbursed to them.

“So it takes a lot of rigour to put on the table resources for entrepreneurs to use. As we speak, we have disbursed over N60bn out of this fund.

“We dont want to make mistake; we want to disburse the fund and make sure people pay back for others to assess the fund.

“The CBN will take what it takes to disburse funds because we are dealing with banking and we want to make the fund sustainable.”

He urged the physically challenged, who had benefitted from the fund, to make efficient use of it, adding that the apex bank’s objective to ensure financial inclusion was responsible for the move.

He added, “As we speak a similar thing is happening in Osun state, Osun state gave a lot of resources to people with special disabilities.

“In Delta Sate they ve also given the fund and Benue state also did the same thing. The fund is N220bn for MSME and as we move for state to state, we continue to work with them.”

The Emir of the colony in Abuja, Alhaji Mohammed Suleiman, while appreciating the apex bank for the gesture, assured the bank that the funds would be deployed for the required purpose for which it was meant for.